Pain vs Pleasure

“They made their beautiful voices carry,

And my heart yearned to listen. I ordered my men

To untie me, signaling with my brows,

But they just leaned on their oars and rowed on.

Perimedes and Eurylochus jumped up,

Looped more rope around me, and pulled tight.

When we had rowed past, and the Sirens’ song

Had faded on the waves, only then did my crew

Take the wax from their ears and untie me.”

Throughout Odysseus’ journey back to Ithaca, a specific binary is continually brought up—the choice between pain or pleasure. Odysseus is constantly having to decide whether he wants to continue his tedious odyssey—one he could possibly lose his life in—or stay at the place he has arrived at the given time. For the most part, whenever Odysseus encounters a new island, he is treated with much care and respect by all of those around him. From the Island of Aeaea, where he became a lover to the goddess Circe and his entire crew was cared for by her four maids, all the way to Ogygia, where he stayed for seven years under the love and care of goddess Calypso. And even shortly after, in Phaeacia where King Alcinous told him he wished “by Zeus, by Athena and Apollo” that Odysseus would stay there to marry his daughter, be called his son and given a house “filled with possessions.”

In all of those instances, Odysseus is in some level having to make the decision of whether he wants to give into his pleasures or return to his struggles. Of course his greatest desire is to ultimately reach the Ithacan shores and see his wife Penelope and son Telemachus after being gone for so many years. However, his journey has been so excruciating that it wouldn’t be surprising for him to have second thoughts on whether he should continue it—a possible idea reinforced by the fact that Odysseus remained in Calypso’s Island for seven years without even attempting to reignite his journey—the only reason he eventually ended up leaving is because the gods took matters into their own hands.

The binary becomes a bit confusing since Odysseus doesn’t display apparent signs that he wishes to stay at the given place and give up his journey. He never seems to show any interest in staying with the Phaeacians and is constantly bringing up his desire to reach home. Furthermore, when he is in Calypso’s island he seems to be miserable and does nothing but cry all day—at least for the last few years he was there. However, in the passage above, the binary can clearly be seen as Odysseus actually manifests that his heart “yearned to listen” to the sirens. He ordered his men to untie him for he wished, deep in his heart, to give into his pleasures and follow the beautiful voices. Although Odysseus is an epic hero, his mind is not strong enough to withstand the enchantments of the sirens and within minutes he wishes to abandon his ship, abandon his pains. However, given the ropes he has tied around him and the restriction of his crew, he is forced to stay on the ship and continue his arduous odyssey.